


For Ransom

by all_the_ships_are_sailing



Category: Big Brother RPF
Genre: M/M, kidnap au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-29 12:10:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3895819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_the_ships_are_sailing/pseuds/all_the_ships_are_sailing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone has taken Frankie hostage to try and obtain ransom money from the Grande family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“What the…” Zach groaned, rolling over in his bed, floundering for his phone that was ringing loudly.

 

He answered the call without looking at the screen and mumbled a generic greeting under his breath. “Turn on the news,” the voice on the other end of the phone said through obvious tears.

 

“What?” Zach groaned.

 

“Turn on the news, Zach. You need to hear this.”

 

“Why? Who is this?”

 

“Did you not look at your phone, bro?”

 

“No. I was asleep like any reasonable human being at this hour.”

 

“It’s AJ. Turn on the news.”

 

“Oh…why? What’s going on?”

 

“Just turn on the news, bro. I need to go,” and with that the line clicked dead. Zach groaned as he reached for the remote control that had fallen to the floor next to his bed. He sat up and turned the TV on to CNN. The bright red _Breaking News_ banner was scrolling across the bottom of the screen above the highlights.

 

“For anyone just joining us, we’re currently live from outside NYPD headquarters. We’ve just received word that Broadway sensation and older brother of international pop star, Ariana Grande, Frankie Grande has been taken captive. His current whereabouts are unknown. Police are currently working to identify the people behind the attack from a ransom message left on his sister’s phone about two hours ago. More as the story develops.”

 

Zach could literally feel his heart tightening in his chest as he scrambled to his feet and pulled his suitcase from the back of his closet, throwing it open. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he was sure he needed to get to New York as soon as possible. He set his phone on the floor and dialed Ariana’s number putting it on speaker as he started to pack.  “Hey,” she said through obvious tears. “I guess you saw the news.”

 

“Yeah,” Zach said quickly. “Is there anything I can do? I’ll be in New York as soon as I can get a flight.”

 

“You don’t need to…I mean there’s nothing any of us can do. The police are doing everything they can to try to identify the caller, but they used some really advanced modulation. Basically we’re just waiting for them to call again. They have Frankie’s phone turned off, so we can’t get a location. It’s a waiting game,” she whispered through her sobs.

 

“I’ll still be there. I feel useless here. I probably won’t feel any better there, but at least I’ll be able to see him sooner when they find him, because they _will_ find him, Ari, don’t worry.”

 

“I know, Zach. We have to keep hoping they’ll be able to find him. Lauren, Paul, and Jon-Erik are at the police station. Mommy’s on the phone with them. We’re flying out in about half an hour. I got Scooter to let us use the private plane, because it’ll be quicker.”

 

“I’m going to book my ticket now. Has anyone told Nonna? I could maybe stop by before I leave?”

 

“Actually, Mommy called her a little while ago, she wanted to come to New York, too, but mommy doesn’t like her travelling alone. Maybe she could fly with you. Let me talk to Mommy and get back to you in a couple minutes, alright?”

 

“Alright. I love you both, you know that, right? See you soon. Talk to you sooner.”

 

“We love you, too, Zach. I’ll text you with what Mommy says.” The line clicked dead and Zach finished through all of his remaining clean clothes into his suitcase. He pulled up a travel app on his phone and started looking at flights while he waited for Ariana’s text.

_Call Back: Ariana_

Mommy loves the idea of Nonna flying with you. I’m going to call her now and see what she thinks. I’ll have her call you when we’re done. Thanks again.

 

Zach smiled at his phone as he read the message. A few seconds later there was a light knock on his door. “Zachary?” his mother’s voice whispered as the door cracked open. “What are you doing awake, honey?”

 

“Have you seen the news?” Zach asked, looking up at her from where he was still sitting on the floor.

 

Jill shook her head and eyed Zach’s luggage with suspicion. “Where are you going?”

 

“New York. Go turn on CNN, you’ll understand. I’m just waiting for Nonna to call.”

 

“Nonna? Frankie’s Nonna? What’s going on?”

 

“Just go turn the news on, Ma.” Jill begrudging closed the door and Zach heard her footsteps making their way to the sofa and then he heard the television flip on and quickly turn to CNN and then he heard his mother gasp and a loud thud. Zach scrambled to his feet and ran into the living room. He saw Jill flopped on the sofa, staring wide-eyed at the television screen as the news reporter echoed the same information he’d been repeating for the past half-hour. “Are you okay?” Zach panted as he came to a stop next to where his mother was sitting.

 

Jill nodded once. “Do you want me to come with you?” she asked after a minute.

 

“No, Ma. Pizzle needs you here. I’m going to fly with Nonna because Joan doesn’t want her to fly alone. Joan and Ari are flying on the private plane now. Some of Frankie’s friends are already at the police station doing everything they can. We won’t really be able to do much, but we’ll all be together. I’ll keep you updated, okay?” Zach said quickly. His phone could be heard ringing a few seconds later and he ran back into his room to answer Nonna’s call.

 

A little less than half-an-hour later a car arrived in front of Zach’s house. Nonna had hired the driver and sent the car to get Zach first. They stopped off at her house in Boca Raton and picked her up and then made their way to the airport in Miami. They quickly got through security and boarded a flight to New York which Zach was reassured about 20 times had functional Wi-Fi. They’d be landing a few hours after Joan and Ariana. Once on board and in the air, Zach pulled out his phone and refreshed his news app every three seconds for the entire three hour flight. Nothing new came from the police except a few photos of Joan and Ariana arriving at the police station that surfaced just before Zach had to turn off his phone for landing.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Zach and Nonna arrived at NYPD headquarters, Joan and Ari were talking with the lead detectives about the last communications they’d had with Frankie. Both of them had last talked to him early the previous afternoon, Ari in a text and Joan on the phone. They assured the officers that nothing had seemed off at all. That he had plans to go out with a few friends for dinner and then stay home and watch television until late at night.

 

“Excuse us, Bill, this is Frankie’s grandmother and boyfriend. They just got in from Florida,” the detective who had escorted them into the building said as they entered the room where detectives were sitting with Frankie’s friends and family.

 

“Mom,” Joan said suddenly jumping to her feet and pulling Nonna into a tight hug.

 

“Zach,” Ariana said through her tears, rushing to pull him into a hug. After a few moments, Ari and Joan switched places and there was more hugging before they all sat down. Lauren, Dominic, Paul, and Jon-Erik were also there. Lauren hugged Zach before he could sit down and whispered that AJ had been there earlier, but got called in to work. He smiled and returned her hug before they both sat down.

 

“Hello,” the sergeant said once everyone had settled back down. “I’m Sergeant William Donovan. You can call me Bill. I’m leading this investigation. Have either of you heard from Frankie in the past 24 hours?” Zach nodded. “When?”

 

“He called me from the restaurant last night, he was pretty drunk. Said he’d call when he made it home, but he didn’t. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, because I just figured he’d passed out as soon as he walked in the door which the amount of alcohol he’d had.”

 

“What time was that?”

 

“He called around 7:30 and texted that he was heading out around 8.”

 

“We’ve been working off the assumption that the abduction happened while he was walking from the restaurant to his apartment, anything you have contradict that?” Zach shook his head and continued to stare down at his clasped hands, trying to hold back the tears that so desperately wanted to escape his eyes every moment.

 

“Mrs. Grande, have you heard from your grandson recently?”

 

“He called me yesterday morning,” she croaked out through tears that had begun to fall.

 

They sat in mostly silence for the next number of hours. The NYPD continued to work around them, investigating and trying everything they could to find Frankie’s abductor. An hour after Zach and Nonna had arrived, one of the detective shouted from the other side of the room. “I HAVE SOMETHING!” Sgt. Donovan immediately got up from his desk and walked over to the detective’s desk. After maybe 20 minutes the Sgt. Donovan and the detective returned to the room where Frankie’s friends and family were waiting on pins and needles for anything.

 

“We’ve got Frankie on a traffic cam near Times Square at 8:05 PM. A car pulls over next to him and he leans down towards the window. We’re trying to find another angle that might show us exactly the encounter that occurred. By 8:07 PM when the next camera sweep shows the area, both Frankie and the car are gone. We think this might be the abduction point,” Sgt. Donovan explained as the detective pulled the video up on the large screen in the room. “Do any of you recognize that car?” Everyone shook their heads, and finally the tears started to escape Zach’s eyes. Lauren noticed and ran a hand gently across his shoulders as she watched the video.

 

Another 20 minutes passed before the results of the plate run finally came back and they had the DMV photo for the owner of the vehicle, and from there the entire investigation sped forward, less than 3 hours later, 4 detectives, Zach and Joan were headed to an abandoned warehouse where they were expecting to find Frankie. Ariana and Nonna along with Frankie’s friends had stayed behind at the police headquarters with the sergeant.

 

“You two, need to stay in the car until we’re sure the abductor isn’t here or until we have him in custody. Once we get Frankie out you’ll be able to see him and accompany him to the hospital. It’s protocol to transition to hospital for examination after hostage situations, okay?” They both nodded at the detective and she shut the door to the car where they were sitting. Zach was holding Joan’s hand and they were both praying to whatever higher powers there might be that Frankie was going to come out of this unscathed.

 

They were sitting alone in the quiet for five minutes when the first gunfire was heard. 6 gunshots rang out then the radio in the front of the car rang out. “Suspect is down. Victim is injured. Medics immediately. Area is clear.”

 

“Injured,” Zach repeated as he looked up into Joan’s eyes. She nodded once as they waited for any more information, but none came. The car was again silent. They watched as a body covered by a white sheet was pulled from the building and loaded into an ambulance. Then another 15 seconds passed and there was another body being carried on a backboard. Zach immediately saw the pink hair and knew it was Frankie, he opened the door without being told and climbed out, running to where they were loading Frankie into the back of an ambulance. The EMT pushed Zach out of the way. “Not now.”

 

“Frankie,” Zach mumbled through the sudden tears that were coating his face. Joan was soon behind him and they watched as Frankie was loaded into the ambulance. The doors slammed shut inches in front of the faces and the ambulance quickly sped away. The detective they’d ridden over with joined them a moment later.

 

“Back in the car. We’ll take you to the hospital. He’s hurt. It’s not pretty.” They all quickly got back into the car. Zach’s head was spinning as they sped away towards the hospital, stopping outside the emergency entrance. Joan and Zach hurried inside.

 

“Can I help you?” the lady at the reception desk asked.

 

“My son. He was just brought by ambulance.”

 

“Name?”

 

“Grande, Frankie,” Joan said quietly.

 

The lady nodded and looked at her computer screen. You’ll have to wait until he’s been triaged. If you have a seat, we’ll have someone come out and get you as soon as they’re able. Your name for his record?

 

“Joan, also Grande.”

 

The woman nodded, “Can you provide his medical information for me?” Joan nodded and they were off, going through Frankie’s medical history while Zach was left standing to the side, wringing his hands over and over again as he waited. A doctor came out into the waiting area after maybe half an hour of this and walked right over to the counter. “Mrs. Grande?” Joan looked up and nodded. “Hello, I’m Dr. Weaver.”

 

“Hello,” she said quietly. “We need to discuss treatment options for your son, Mrs. Grande. It doesn’t look good. We’ve already had to resuscitate once.” Zach’s heart fell at that news.

 

“What? What’s wrong? What happened to him?” Zach said suddenly, unable to control himself.

 

The doctor looked from Zach to Joan and back again. Joan nodded. “You can tell him,” she said quietly. “I promise Frankie would want him to know.”

 

“Why don’t you both come with me back to consultation?” he said, gesturing towards the doors he’d come out of moments earlier.


	3. Chapter 3

Zach and Joan exchanged a look with each other and then followed Dr. Weaver through the double doors into the Emergency Room. He led them down a few halls and eventually stopped outside a small room labeled ‘consultation.’ They followed him inside and sat in two of the available arm chair while the doctor logged into the computer on the desk and pulled up Frankie’s files.

 

The first thing the doctor projects onto the screen in the room is a scan of Frankie’s brain. There is very obviously a bullet lodged inside which the doctor points out before pulling his stool around to sit in front of Joan and Zach. “Where the bullet it lodged, the most likely thing to be affected is his long-term memory, unfortunately it also causing pressure on his cerebellum which controls movement. We have two options moving forward: remove the bullet and risk damage to his memory or don’t remove the bullet and risk him never being able to walk again.”

 

Joan was staring at the image on the screen in disbelief as she listened to the doctor’s words without really hearing anything. Zach’s face was covered with tears while he listened. “What would the memory loss mean?” Zach asked suddenly. “Is he going to forget who we are or…”

 

“No. It’s the long-term memory center. He would most likely forget childhood memories. The most recent couple of years would most likely remain intact. It’s hard to say for sure though,” Dr. Weaver explained as Zach breathed a sigh of relief. Joan was nodding a long now.

 

“Remove it,” she said flatly. “He’s a dancer. I know he’d rather give up his childhood memories than his ability to dance.” Dr. Weaver nodded. “I’ll call the O.R. them and have them prepare for the surgery. We have a highly qualified neurosurgery team that will perform the procedure with the highest care possible to minimize all impacts to his functioning.”

 

“Can we see him now?” Joan asked, after signing all the paper work, Dr. Weaver continued to hand her.

 

Dr. Weaver nodded and walked towards the door. “We have him in a medically induced coma and there’s going to be a lot of tubes and wires when you walk in. Do you still want to see him?”

 

“Please,” Joan said with a quick nod.

 

“Please,” Zach echoed. Dr. Weaver nodded and led them back down a couple halls until he stopped outside a room labeled ‘104.’ He knocked and then pushed the door opening, gesturing for Joan and Zach to enter. Zach allowed Joan to enter first and she gasped at the site before her.

 

Zach quickly entered behind her and he could feel his jaw falling when his eyes landed on Frankie’s face.

 

Frankie’s head was bandaged so that only his eyes, nose, and mouth were visible. His clothing had been cut away and he was wearing just a hospital gown and blanket covered his legs. There were about 3 IVs going in and out of his arms and 2 different tubes coming from his mouth. “You can wait with him while the O.R. is prepared for the surgery. A nurse will come for him shortly,” Dr. Weaver said as he left the room.

 

Joan dropped into a chair across from Frankie’s bed. Zach on the other hand remained on his feet until after maybe 5 minutes there was a knock on the door. Nonna and Ariana entered followed by a nurse. Nonna took a seat next to Joan along the wall and Zach could hear their whispers. Ariana leaned over her brother and pressed a light kiss to his nose, the only spec of skin she could find to do so. She lifted one of his hands in hers and kissed the back of it while she whispered.

 

“We’re here, Frankie. We’re all here. You can do this. I know you can do this,” she repeated as Zach pulled a chair over for her to sit on while she continued to hold her brother’s hand.

 

Zach hadn’t spoken a word since he’d walked into the room. Seeing Frankie like he was had an effect on Zach that he wasn’t expecting. It broke his heart to know how much pain Frankie must have been in before medical intervention left him unconscious. It also pained Zach to know that Frankie would likely never remember most of his own childhood. It pained him even more to know that Frankie may have to relearn how to walk when he was finally awoken from the coma.

 

Maybe 15 minutes after Nonna and Ariana had arrived, a nurse entered the room and announced that she was there to take Frankie for surgery. She informed the Grande women and Zach that they could follow her as she pushed Frankie’s bed and she would show them to the O.R. waiting area. The surgery was schedule to take between 4 and 6 hours due to the complex nature and the location of the bullet.

 

Once they arrived at the new waiting room, they sat together for almost 20 minutes before any of them spoke. “We should eat,” Joan said to end the silence. “Two at a time to the cafeteria maybe?”

 

“I’m not hungry,” Zach said flatly.

 

“You should eat something, honey. None of us have eaten all day.”

 

“I’m not hungry,” Zach repeated as he curled into himself on the sofa where he’d ended up sitting.

 

“I’ll get you something while I’m downstairs. What do you want?” Joan suggested.

 

“Not hungry,” he repeated again.

 

“Okay. Mom, do you want to come with me?” she asked turning to Nonna. Nonna nodded and told Ariana that they’d be back quickly and told Zach to rethink eating before they both left.


	4. Chapter 4

Once Nonna and Joan left the room, Ariana started crying again and so did Zach. “I can’t believe this,” Ariana mumbled after a few minutes.

 

“Me either,” Zach agreed as he looked up at her.

 

“You do need to eat though,” Ariana said quietly.

 

“I’m already feeling sick. I’m not hungry.”

 

Ariana sighed and silence fell across the room again. About 15 minutes after they left, Nonna and Joan returned. Ariana got to her feet to get food and eventually convinced Zach to at least walk with her to the cafeteria even if he was still refusing to eat. The walk to the elevator and the wait for it to arrive passed in total silence. By the time they reached the cafeteria, Ariana had however convinced Zach to at least get something to eat later if he wouldn’t eat now. Mostly just tired of hearing the women complain about his lack of hunger, Zach agreed and picked up a bagel and some cream cheese along with a bottle of apple juice which he paid for at the register before he and Ariana headed back towards the waiting room.

 

Not long after the women had finished eating a nurse came into the room.

 

“How is he?” Joan asked quietly when the nurse reached them.

 

“Doing great so far,” the nurse said quietly. “We just got the bone cap off the area where we’ll be working. The doctor is currently working to reach the bullet so it can be removed before we close up.”

 

“How much longer?” Joan asked.

 

“About 2 or 3 more hours. Thank you for your patience. We’re doing everything we can to ensure a full recovery for your song, Ms. Grande.”

 

“Thank you,” Joan said quietly as the nurse turned to leave the room. The silence that filled the room in her absence was almost deafening, each of the four lost in their own thoughts. Another half hour passed before anyone spoke.

 

Nonna finally broke the silence. “All we can do is pray and hope for the best, yeah?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Frankie wouldn’t want us moping around like this, would he?” Everyone shook their heads.

 

“But what are supposed to do instead?” Zach asked with a long sigh. No one seemed to have an answer for that as the room fell silent again. The silence lasted as they each fell into their silent thoughts again. Maybe 90 minutes after the nurse had entered the room, she appeared again.

 

“How’s it going?” Joan asked immediately.

 

“As well as anyone can expect it. The bullet has been removed. The doctor isn’t sure of course, but it seems likely he may struggle to walk and with gross motor skills at first, but the abilities should return with some physical therapy. His long-term memory may also be minimally impacted. They’re working to close up the area now. We’ll have to reopen in about a week to replace the bone cap after swelling has reduced. The doctor will be out to discuss everything with you as soon as we’re closed up.”

 

“When will we be able to see him?” Joan asked.

 

“After the doctor talks to you, he’ll show you to the recovery room. I don’t expect they’ll wake him until tomorrow morning though.”

 

“Will we be able to stay with him?”

 

“Visiting hours end at 9 except in the ICU, so it will depend on where he is put. I would assume they’ll have him in the ICU for about a week until we can close the bone cap then they’ll probably move him to a neurology room where he’ll be able to have intensive physical therapy until discharge.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

The nurse left them in silence to their thoughts again. Zach found himself thanking whatever higher powers that might be that Frankie had somehow made it through this surgery with seemingly no obvious complications. The silence continued until a doctor enter the room maybe an hour later.

 

“Hello, I’m Dr. Diaz. I was the lead surgeon on Frankie’s operation.”

 

“Hello,” Joan said quickly, shaking his outstretched hand. “I’m Joan, Frankie’s mother.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” he said warmly, taking a seat on a nearby chair. “Who else do we have here?”

 

“Oh,” Joan said quickly as she started to introduce the other three to the doctor. “This is my mother and daughter, Marjorie and Ariana,” she said indicating each of the women with a brief gesture. “And this is Zach, Frankie’s boyfriend.”

 

Dr. Diaz smiled warmly and shook each of their hands before he began explain the surgery to them. He also took care to make sure they knew he wasn’t entirely out of the woods yet. “The first 48 hours are very important. Tonight we’ll keep him sedated in the medically induced coma. In the morning we’ll start to very carefully and slowly wean him from that. It’s possible that he’ll stay comatose on his own accord though. A neurology team member will be in the room the whole time to help you understand what’s happening.”

 

“What are the chances?” Joan asked slowly.

 

“Chances of?”

 

“Full recover, memory loss, motor skill loss, all of it?”

 

“Right now, I don’t feel comfortable giving you numbers on any of it, but by tomorrow afternoon we’ll have a better idea and after 48 hours, we’ll have a pretty clear picture of what our course of action will be moving forward. For now, just be glad that your son has made it through a very difficult surgery alive and with the possibility of a full life ahead of him.”

 

Joan swallowed and nodded, thanking the doctor profusely as he got to his feet.

 

“If you want to follow me, I’ll take to you the recovery room where you’ll be able to see him. The nurses will be down to take you and him to the ICU very shortly.” Everyone quickly got to their feet and scrabbled to grab all of their things before following Dr. Diaz from the room and down a hallway to a closed door. “You saw him before surgery, yes?” Joan nodded as Dr. Diaz opened the door with his ID badge. “He looks much the same. Lots of tubes and wires everywhere.” Everyone nodded and Dr. Diaz led them down another hallway and stopped outside a room labeled ‘Recovery 3.’ Dr. Diaz pulled back the curtain and they all entered the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Dr. Diaz wasn’t lying. Frankie looked nearly identical to how he had in the emergency room. The only change was a more permanent wrap on his head. There were still four IVs running various fluids into his body and two tubes coming from his mouth. Joan and Nonna both collapsed into chairs off to the side of the room, where they’d be able to watch Frankie closely. Ariana pulled a chair right up next to Frankie’s bed and immediately took his hand in hers and started whispering comforting words to her brother while little tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Zach stood in the doorway for a long moment, simply taking in the scene around him. He sighed to himself and then carefully pulled a chair to the other side of Frankie’s bed from where Ariana was seated and took Frankie’s opposite hand into his. Remaining quiet he brought Frankie’s hand quickly to his lips and kissed it before relaxing into the chair and intertwining his fingers with Frankie’s.

 

After maybe half an hour of silence (other than Ariana’s whispers) and nurse entered the room. “Hey, I’m Dina, I’ll be the nurse while he’s in recovery. I believe they’ll be moving him to the ICU within the hour,” she said quickly as she starred at Ariana. “I’ll need you to move, Miss, I need to get his vitals.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ariana said as she quickly jumped to her feet. She pulled the chair to the wall and sat next to Nonna. Nonna quietly took Ariana’s hand in hers and Ariana’s head fell to her grandmother’s shoulder as they all watched Dina work next to Frankie.

 

“Sir, you’ll need to let go of his hand while I do this. It could mess up the readings if you’re touching him.”

 

“Oh, alright,” Zach mumbled, releasing Frankie’s hand and sitting up in the chair so he could watch what the nurse was doing.

 

Dina worked quickly and mumbled under her breath as she scribbled the readings into Frankie’s medical chart. “Thank you,” she mumbled as she left the room.

 

“She wasn’t very pleasant,” Joan mumbled after the nurse was gone.

 

“Glad we won’t be here long,” Ariana agreed as she slid her chair back to Frankie’s bedside. Zach took Frankie’s hand back into his as Ariana did the same and the room fell quiet again.

 

When they had been in the recovery room for nearly an hour, another nurse entered with a quick knock. “Hello, I’m Chelsea. I work up in the ICU. I’m going to prepare him for transport then I’ll be the nurse for the next few hours until change of shift. Who all do we have here?” she asked looking around at all the faces.

 

Joan smiled. “I’m Joan, Frankie’s mother and this is my mother, Marjorie and my daughter, Ariana. And that’s Frankie’s boyfriend, Zach.”

 

Chelsea smiled at everyone and nodded as Joan introduced them. “Ariana was it? Could I asked you to shift away from your brother for a few minutes, so I can get him disconnected here?”

 

“Sure,” Ari said with a smile, shifting next to Nonna along the wall again. Zach squeezed Frankie’s hand lightly before kissing the back of it again as he got to his feet. He walked over to the wall next to Joan. He watched as Chelsea worked. She disconnected Frankie from all of the monitors and moved his IV bags to hooks attached to his bed and then kicked the locks of each of the four wheels of the bed.

 

“You can head up the guest elevators out in the lobby to the 8th Floor and follow the signs to the ICU. I’ll meet you in the waiting room once we have him settled and show you to his room,” Chelsea said quickly as she started to push Frankie in his bed from the room.

 

Zach and women gathered their belongings and headed for the elevators. Zach pressed the up arrow outside the elevator bank and they waited until one dinged open a few seconds later. Once they were inside, Ariana pressed the number 8 so it lit up and the doors closed as the elevator began to rise. Once the doors dinged open again on the 8th floor they all walked out and Zach pointed out an arrow on the wall in front of them directing them to the left for the ICU. They continued to follow the arrows until they arrived at a set of large double doors with bright red letters marking it the ICU and an arrow leading them to the right for the waiting area. They shuffled inside and sat in the closest four chairs to the door, talking quietly.

 

Chelsea came into the waiting room about 15 minutes after they’d arrived and told them they could come with her to Frankie’s room. They all got back to their feet and followed Chelsea through the double doors and down a couple hallways to a room labeled ‘ICU 33’ which she opened the door to and let them inside.  Once they’d set all their belongings down and resumed their positions from the recovery room Chelsea smiled and informed them that Frankie would be staying in this room until he was conscious if not longer. She also informed them that the doctor would be by shortly to tell them about the plan for the next day or two.


	6. Chapter 6

A few minutes after Chelsea left, a doctor arrived. He introduced himself as Dr. Shirk from the Neurology department before he quickly checked Frankie’s chart. “I was just speaking with the surgeon who worked on him downstairs and we’ve both agreed that for the best chance to heal, we’d like to keep him in the medically induced coma until tomorrow afternoon.”

 

“What will happen then?” Joan asked quickly.

 

“We’ll carefully wean him from the medication that is keeping him sedated and allow him to wake on his own. That could take anywhere from a couple hours up to a week. Once he’s awake, we’ll assess any neurological damage he may have sustained and run multiple tests before we start him with intense therapies on any impacted skills. I’ll be constantly available during that time and will be here as soon as he wakes to start the neurological assessment,” Dr. Shirk explained. “If he does in fact stay in the coma after the medication is weaned, I will start doing other assessments tomorrow evening.”

 

“I want to stay,” Zach said firmly when the nurse came around at 9:00.

 

“That’s fine sir. But only one overnight per room. The other visitors may come back at 8:00,” the nurse said as she turned to leave.

 

Zach looked up at Joan and Nonna, with a silent plea in his eyes. Joan smiled warmly at him. “We’ll get a hotel nearby and be back in the morning, sweetie. Don’t worry,” Joan said quietly as she got to her feet and started gathering her things.

 

Before they left, each of the Grande women pressed a kiss to Frankie’s forehead and whispered near his ear that they loved him and would return in the morning. Then they each hugged Zach tightly and told him they’d be back in the morning. As they left the room, the nurse returned again to check Frankie’s vital signs. “Would you like me to bring a reclining chair in for you, sir?” the nurse asked before she left.

 

“Could you? That would be great,” Zach responded quickly.

 

“Of course. I’ll be right back with that,” the nurse said as she left the room.

 

A few minutes later the nurse returned, pushing a reclining hospital chair. She pushed the chair next to Frankie’s bed and locked the wheels before quickly showing Zach how to use it. “Have a good night,” she said quietly as she turned to leave again. 

 

Once they were alone, Zach took Frankie’s hand in his as he collapsed into the more comfortable chair. “I love you so much, Frankie,” he whispered, kissing the back of Frankie’s hand.

 

The next morning, just after 8:00, the three ladies returned and resumed their seats. Joan had brought pastries from a local bakery as well as coffee from Starbucks for everyone to have for breakfast. Zach had only slept for maybe an hour all night, but he didn’t mind as they wait for the doctor and nurses to make their first rounds of the morning.

 

Half an hour after the ladies returned a nurse arrived to take Frankie’s vital signs again and she was followed only a few minutes later by Dr. Shirk. He explained that he would be lessening the amount of sedation passing into Frankie’s body via the IV in his left hand over the course of the day. He then turned a few knobs on one of the IVs hanging above Frankie’s head. “I would encourage you to talk to him while we go through this process, it could help pull him from the coma quicker.”

 

Following the doctor’s instructions, Zach and women spent the rest of the morning talking to each other and to Frankie. Just before noon, Dr. Shirk returned and fiddled with the knobs again. “I’ll be back at about 3 to turn the dial entirely off. I would expect that by then, he may show some signs of waking. That red button there will call the nurse to the room if you start noticing anything. The most common first sign of wakefulness would be him squeezing a hand that’s holding his lightly or something like that. I wouldn’t expect his eyes to open or him to be able to communicate until after the next sign. I’m also going to remove a few tubes so that if he does wake up he doesn’t choke,” Dr. Shirk explained as he worked. When he left the room, Frankie was left with oxygen tubing under his nose and four IVs.

 

Zach held Frankie’s hand in his as they all continued talking. A nurse came in around 1:00 to check Frankie’s vitals again and Joan asked if they’d be able to order from the cafeteria for lunch. She nodded quickly and said she’d return with the menu in a moment. Once they had the menu, they each picked what they wanted and called the cafeteria to order.

 

About half an hour later as the food was arriving, Zach felt Frankie’s fingers move in hand and he squeaked as he jumped. “Frankie, baby,” Zach cooed, kissing Frankie’s cheek. “Can you do that again, sweetheart? Can you hear me?” Frankie’s fingers moved in Zach’s hand again and he smiled as he pressed another kiss to Frankie’s cheek.

 

“What’s he doing? What happened?” Joan asked suddenly.

 

“He’s moving his fingers in my hand.”


End file.
